From Freezer to Slow Cooker in Three Simple Steps

When it comes to creating and saving your meals in large quantities, there are two accessories you can’t live without – your slow cooker and your food vacuum sealer from Munro Direct. We already know that your slow cooker prepares your favourite culinary masterpieces, while your vacuum sealer keeps your leftovers up to five times fresher than traditional storage methods. What is more unclear is how we move items from the freezer to the slow cooker in the quickest and safest way. Here’s how your food can go from freezer to slow cooker in three simple steps.

Step 1: Coat and Seal

If you’re preparing any meat based delicacies, you’ll still want some to marinade them for optimum taste. Cover your desired cut of meat with your favourite herbs and spices, vacuum seal, then place in the freezer. By keeping the meat covered in herbs and spices long before it’s actually cooked, you’re giving the meat more time to completely absorb the flavours and maximise the taste of the dish. Handy tip: mark each sealed piece of meat so you know what you’re grabbing when it’s time to cook.

Step 2: Prepare Your Sides

Chop any vegetables that will compliment your desired dish. Vacuum seal them, and place them in the freezer. Don’t worry too much about the vegetables freezing together as it doesn’t matter for liquid-based dishes. Again it’s also a good idea to throw some seasoning or spices on the veges, so they can taste as good as the meat!

Now is also the perfect time to prepare a dessert. By doing it now you won’t have to worry about it when it comes to the biggest task of preparing the main meal. Stuck for ideas? Tune in next week for dessert specials!

Step 3: Ready, steady, cook!

When the time comes to break out the slow cooker, you’ll need to coat the appliance with a nonstick cooking spray to start. Then add all the ingredients your recipe requires. For the most part, you can transfer ingredients straight from the freezer to the slow cooker with little prep beforehand. Just open the vacuum sealed bags and empty. If there are additional vegetables you forgot to add – no worries! Just chop them up and add them now. Bear in mind though, fast cooking fresh vegetables should be left until later (eg. mushrooms) to avoid that one shrivelled unidentifiable vegetable. Just remember you want to ensure the meat will cook through thoroughly, so adjust your slow cooker times as needed.

While your slow cooker does all the hard work, prepare any other sides such as rice or cous cous to compliment your delicious casserole. Once it’s all done, simply serve it up! Vacuum seal any leftovers so you can repeat the delicacy experience at a later time.

Stuck on ideas of what to serve? No problem! Check out these casseroles, soups, and chilli recipes for ideas.